Remember
by maddaboutjew
Summary: BotW: Link and Zelda journey together to help rebuild Hyrule, but, how can he help build Hyrule's future if he can't remember anything about his past? Told primarily through a combination of flashbacks. Post-calamity Gannon.
1. A Sparring Match

The rough leather of the hilt burned against his calloused fingers; he tried to compensate for the slickness of his sweaty palm by strengthening his grip tighter. The sword sang as he parried to the left, returning the blow with metallic ring. He could feel the air quiver as the vibrations as steel met steel. He locked his eyes firmly on his target, and spun on his heel, bringing his shield up to block a quick counter strike.

"You know she's looking right this way, Link."

Link turned his gaze at the western tower. Sure enough, he could see a wave of blue silk and golden hair swaying through the soft summer breeze. What was she-

Link brought his shield up with a quick swing-just enough for the sword to lodge itself into the soft metal of his shield. He could feel the frustration from his sparring partner as he yanked his sword free. He took a quick hop backwards.

"That was a low blow, even for you, Roam," Link said through gritted teeth.

"Don't let her distract too much," the raven-haired knight responded, returning with a hard slash from above, "after all, she's probably just wanting to take in a sparring match with the future Hylian Champion."

"In that case," Link said, narrowing his eyes, "I am happy to oblige."

A quick spin brought Link's shield to his opponent's chest, knocking him to the ground, and swift slash of his sword left the point directly at Roam's chest.

"Perhaps next time, friend." Link said, offering his hand. Roam clutched the open palm dejectedly, pulling himself up. Out of the corner of his eye, Link could swear he could see the princess smile.

Roam cut his eyes at Link, and then brushed the dirt off the white of his surcoat of his armor, pausing dejectedly as his finger fumbled with the tiny nick his adversary had made in it's rough fabric. He brushed his fingers through his shaggy black hair and sheathed his sword in frustration.

"Don't think that this little victory means anything," Roam's deep voice said with a sigh. "I'm the one who'll be wearing the blue of a champion. You might as well get used to that green tunic; It suits you better anyways."

"Maybe if you didn't always weigh yourself down with those metal plates you'd stand a better shot at beating me," Link said with a smile. He smoothed the green fabric of his tunic, still overly aware of the green eyes he could still feel locked on him. "How about a meat skewer, victor's treat?" Link taunted, walking over to the cookpot, flames licking up it's sides.

The glowing embers let out a loud pop, abruptly waking Link from his sleep. The fire flickered making the soft shadows dance against the wall of the cave. The light of the fire made the princess glow with a shadowy umbra. She turned with a grimace, and he feared what fresh hell might be tormenting her dreams. He could only imagine; in the months since he had emerged from that goddess-forsaken Shrine of Awakening he had been plagued by no small number of demons.

Sometimes, he would dream of strange flashes. Places. People. Things that he didn't understand, memories locked together with a feeling that is oddly familiar, yet unrecognizable. More than once he'd dreamt of his death...or near death. On a good night, he might have dreamt of that golden hair. But more often than not, he'd just dream of that empty blackness. That hundred-year void that left him lost and empty. The chill of the dark night sent a shiver down his spine. He turned to the warmth of the fire's light, hoping to chase away the goblins that lurked in the depths of his mind.


	2. A Star Fire

_Do you remember me?_

It was a simple question, with an answer that required one word in response. He had felt a new emotion, one that snaked around his chest and crawled its way to his stomach. How does a man answer that question? What can a question like that even mean? When he tried to respond, the answer stuck in his throat.

He had known it wasn't the answer she had wanted. After all, how could it have been? It had been a sidestep as best.

His horse strode silently behind the princess as they made their way across the plains. The horses followed the road obediently, which left the princess and the young hero alone with the silence as well as his thoughts.

They hadn't spoken since the stopped for lunch.

He had no desire to stop now. His body ached and weighed into the saddle of his spackled horse, but Link knew he had no choice but to push onward as long as he could. To stop now meant to camp for the night. For the princess, it would mean sleep, and the opportunity to recuperate. For Link, it meant something else entirely. He feared sleep-it rarely provided him any form rest, but rather, left him with kaleidoscopic flashes of his life...or other lives he'd lived...which was difficult to sort through. What was real? It was a challenge to know.

The sun started to bleed reds and purples across the sky, casting long shadows from the trees that sprinkled the grasslands.

"We should stop soon for the night- before the stal hour."

Zelda looked up from her reigns, and nodded in agreement. "Link, if you anchor the horses somewhere, I'll start the fire."

The young hero had recently been reminded of the importance of building a fire. In his travels, Link had dealt with the skeleton monsters. Every night they would emerge as if crawling out of the pits of hell. It hadn't been since he'd been traveling with the princess, that he'd discovered how much they hated fire. Perhaps it was the light they feared, but as long as they were near a simple campfire, they'd be more or less left alone. "It was really your discovery, Link," the princess told him, an excited gleam in her eye, "You told me the first time you showed me how to start a fire."

The thick green blades licked against his trousers like the tongue of a cat as he waded through. He heard the rustle and scamper of the small souls creeping in the grass as he trudged up the grassy knoll. If his hands weren't already occupied with the mountain of scavenged mushrooms, he might have stopped to collect some of the tiny creatures lurking within for a make-shift elixir. He analyzed the area around the campsite. The princess had made quick work of getting the carefully chopped wood to take light. She had already lain out their sleeping rolls, and heated the cookpot over the roaring flames. The blaze wasn't what caught her attention, however.

She sat cushioned on the bedding, her legs pulled up to her chest, resting her chin delicately on her knees. Her arms wrapped tightly around her leather-bound shins. Her emerald eyes were washed in a reflective melancholy, her gaze locked on a skeletal structure-the decrepit remains of some old buildings, the ruins of one of the many abandoned villages that scattered Hyrule field. She sighed into the wind as the breeze caught her hair in a way that seemed almost familiar to him, and she let out a gentle shiver as the sun sank slowly on the horizon.

She was beautiful, even now, staring out at the fields before them, even covered in two days of dust and traveling dirt. He shouldn't have been surprised. Even before the first memory he had recovered of her, he had heard the murmurs of the the breathtaking princess, sealed away in the castle. A vision of beauty, blessed by the goddess Hylia herself. Yet she remained to him a beautiful, familiar stranger.

He trudged his way up the small, grassy hill, placing the small mountain of mushrooms precariously balanced in his hands in a basket woven from Tabanthan Straw resting near their small campsite. Silently, he dug through the a leather pack, sorting through the carefully curated gear he had brought along with him. Without a word, he slowly paced back to the princess, draping his cloak gently over her delicate shoulders. She shook with a startle-

"Link," she gasped, "I didn't hear you coming." She grasped her chest, laughing, "I thought you were a Stalchild."

Link smiled, "You looked cold, princess, and as long as we stay close to the fire, you know the monsters will stay away. Besides," he placed his hand on the ornate blue scabbard of his sword, "I am sworn to protect you until my dying breath. I swore an oath to you, an oath that is one of the few things I can recollect."

Zelda furrowed her brow. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up…" She cut herself off. "I'm sorry."

Link sunk down on the hillside next to her. The two sat in a practiced silence for some time. Zelda returned her attention to the scorched ruins below.

"Do you remember that place?" Link said.

The princess abruptly turned to him. She looked angry, before a spark of realization hit her. "You don't remember it...it's strange how quickly I forget. It's just that, your eyes, your face-they haven't changed in 100 years. When I look at you, so unchanged, my heart wants to believe that at least one part of my life can go back to the way it was before The Calamity. But I know that might never be the case."

The sat for a moment in silence, before Zelda gestured towards the remains of what appeared to have once been a small town.

"That was Mabe Village," she said, "before The Calamity, it was a small village. We spent some time there on a few occasions."

Zelda pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders. "We should move closer to the fire. It's getting cold now that the sun has gone down."

Link nodded in agreement, and stared at the logs radiating from the fire Zelda had built.

"What is that?" Link said, feeling a dull pain in his head..

"It's Star fire build," Zelda said matter-of-factly, "and it has several key benefits…"

" _It's better to our current situation." He could feel the tension rising in his voice, and tried hard to remain calm as he placed a few of the remaining pieces of firewood radiating from a small bunch of kindling. He gripped the flint tightly in his hand and tried to get a spark. The numbness crept through his fingertips. The wind and sand lashed around them._

" _But there's nothing to reflect the heat! The temperature is already dropping fast!" The princess yelled over the roaring wind. "Link, this isn't the way your father sho-"_

" _WELL HE'S NOT HERE RIGHT NOW IS HE?" Link screamed. The Spark took light, and soon there was a glowing ember._

 _Zelda was quiet. She moved closer to growing flames._

" _I suppose it's warm enough." She said quietly, "and the flames should do to keep the monsters away."_

 _Link pulled the hood of his cloak up to keep the sand from blowing into his eyes, and joined the princess by the fire._

" _I'm...I'm sorry," Zelda slid closer to him._

" _It's alright," Links voice was low, "Yelling at royalty, isn't that punishable by death?" He chuckled. Even though he couldn't see her face, he could tell she was smiling._

" _I won't tell if you don't."_

 _They sat by the fire in silence, shivering through the roar of sand. Link slowly pushed the far ends of the logs towards the center. The light of the fire flickered and grew._

" _A star fire lasts longer than any of the ones my father taught you to make," Link said in a low voice, "even if it isn't quite as warm. With us as low on wood as we are, we have to conserve what wood we have left if we ever want to make it out of this goddess forsaken desert. It also-"_

 _He stopped talking, he had noticed the princess's head fell limp onto his shoulder. The corners of his mouth curled upward into a grin. Zelda's slow soft breathing let him know she had drifted off to sleep. He brushed piece of hair out of her face. He would allow himself this moment; they were safe from the prying eyes and whispers of the gossip mongers. He hadn't expected to find himself safe lost in the eye of the sandstrom._

"Link? Are you alright?" Golden hair fell around him like a curtain, and Zelda's green eyes were flooded with concern.

"Ye...yes," Link answered, "I think I just remembered something."

Zelda's eyes widened with surprise. "A memory? What was it? Who was in it? Where were you? Does this happen often? I thought you said it was only in dreams?" Zelda could see the frustration on Link's face as he was bombarded with her questions.

"Sorry again," she said dejectedly, "you're obviously overwhelmed at the moment. What did you remember?"

"We were in the desert," Link said, rubbing his temples vigorously, "The Gerudo Desert, I think. I believe I yelled at you…"

Zelda turned a bright shade of crimson. She obviously could recall this moment very well.

"I remember that night. Tensions were high. We had left for the Gerudo Desert to check on Vah Naboris. On our way back from the Divine Beast, a terrible sandstorm hit. We were lost out there in the desert. We were running low on food, water, and were almost out of firewood. I know you're aware of how cold the desert nights get. I wasn't sure we were going to make it out of there alive. Luckily, the sand calmed down after a few days and we stumbled upon an oasis there in the hot sands."

"The fire...my father taught you how to build fires?"

Zelda nodded. "He taught both of us. I don't suppose you remember any of that. Perhaps with more time, you'll remember more."

Link stared into the flames, pondering.

"You knew my father?"

"Yes, very well. He was the captain of the Royal Guard. He was often placed in charge of my own personal safety. He was a kind and brave man. Would you like to know more about him?"

"Maybe tomorrow. We have a long ride ahead of us. It might help us to pass the time."

"It just might." Zelda said with a smile.

 **Thanks for reading the second chapter of my story. I'm hoping to have some regular updates so it motivates me to write more. Please review! I appreciate any motivation I can get!**


	3. Mother

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" _Link...Link...Come to me...Come to me and fulfill your destiny…"_

 _Link shot up from the soft spot in the grass. Someone was calling to him. Someone needed him desperately. Eyes wide, he looked around. Zelda squirmed nearby._

" _Link, go back to sleep. You're going to get us in trouble…" the princess groaned, her blonde hair in a matted mess. She rolled over, hoping the small boy would bother her no longer._

 _Link stood up. He could no longer hear the voice, but he could feel something pulling him away from the camp like a tiny golden string attached to his chest, pulling him over the river, towards the trees. It was as if he had lost control of his body, each bare foot foot moving in front of the other independently of any thought or choice. A large hand clamped down on his shoulder._

 _Link spun around suddenly, met with a pair of fearful blue eyes. "Link," the man said nervously, "What the hell are you doing?! Stay by the fire! Do you want to be eaten?"_

 _The small boy gasped; the spell finally broken, he blinked a few times, unable to respond in any logical way. The man grabbed his arm and dragged him closer to the fire._

" _How do you think we can protect the princess if you keep wandering off?" The man sighed, "If anything happened to you, I…"_

 _Link looked up at him apologetically rubbing the mark on his left hand, "I'm sorry, Father. I thought I heard a voice calling out to me. I...I felt I had to go to it." Link looked down, dejectedly. "I was wrong to disobey. I put myself and the princess in danger. I didn't mean to fail my duty."_

 _Link's sighed. He didn't want to be too hard on the boy. He'd been through enough already._

" _Link," his father said, "You must be careful. There are dangerous monsters that roam the fields at twilight, especially this close to the Lost Woods."_

" _What are the lost woods, Father?"_

" _A dangerous place, Link. You should never go there. It is a dangerous labyrinth of trees protected by an old an ancient magic. Men lose their minds wandering those woods. They say a man who becomes lost in there becomes a monster himself-or worse, one of the demon trees, left to trap other souls within its depths."_

" _Why would anyone go there if it's such a dangerous place?"_

" _Some say there's an ancient power hidden there, but there's no one who has ever come back to prove its merit." His father adjusted his green tunic. "So stay away! You can't help me keep the princess safe if something were to happen to you."_

 _Link's eyes had already closed ashe drifted off to sleep. "I can't keep anyone safe, remember?"_

 _His son's words cut through his heart like a knife._

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 _There was pain. Pain like he'd only experienced two times since. A searing pain that ripped through his chest, as if something inside him had broken, and his very soul had come burning and pouring out of him. His mind was an empty white scream._

 _He couldn't see her face, everything was a blur of fear and sadness welling from his eyes. She laid in bed, whispered something to him, smiled, and then they pulled him away. He remember running, screaming into the rain. He was at...Hateno? There were patches...flashes. It was as if this was a memory he had forced himself to forget, even before his 100 year slumber._

 _He remembered days later, sitting beside the wooden door, wet and caked in mud, listening to the adults talk about what they thought he couldn't understand._

" _He shouldn't stay here," an old woman said, "There's no one to care for him. Sir Arn has made it very clear that returning to the village would be too painful."_

" _Arn is a knight of the royal guard," another voice replied, "he has a duty to the royal family. What makes him think that he can raise a child while keeping the royal family safe at times like this?"_

" _He's probably got a woman in castle town," a third voice chimed in._

" _Domin! Don't say such things!"_

" _Why not?" The voice came back, "I hear it's not uncommon for the royal knights! I hear some of them have entire secret families within the walls of Castle Town. Why wouldn't Arn? Especially with Umi always going on about their family's 'honor' at any chance. I imagine Arn will have one of his women take care of the boy…"_

 _Link heard a loud slap._

" _Dormin, I will not have you speak ill of the dead." The old woman said, her voice loud and stern. "Especially with Umi's son so nearby. Arn has sent for him; Link is to leave with the next merchant caravan into the city."_

 _Link could remember no more of the conversation. The words were drowned out by his tears as he sank beneath a wave of sadness._

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 **Thanks for reading! I decided to do a bit of an interlude, because I have a few memories that I didn't quite know where to place. I was so excited to get some reviews that I decided to give an extra update this week!**


	4. Inogo Bridge

Thanks to everyone who has been reading! I've been excited about the readers I've gotten-I apologize for this chapter being a little short. I'm going to try and have a second update this week, it just didn't really seem to fit in with the flash backs and what not.

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He didn't want to go into details. He didn't even know where to begin-after all, he didn't have the context to understand the dreams and flashbacks himself. A few times he would ask the princess, hoping she would have some kind of clarity.

"The woman," Link asked, his chest tightening, "The woman with the braided hair. When I was a child, I think...I think I remember her. Was she…"

"Your mother, I suppose," Zelda said solemnly, "I can't say for sure. I never met her-she never came to the castle. I didn't know you then, I only knew your father."

"But why not?" Link said, "Why wouldn't they want to be near? It seems unbearable. To be severed from the one you love, well, it seems like a cursed existence."

"I think she was going to come to Castle Town at one point," the princess replied. "I think she wanted to move your family when you got old enough. That's what your father said, anyways." The princess gripped the reins tighter.

"Your father had already taken an oath to protect the Royal...to protect my family. _Duty always, until my last breath._ He took an oath, one he took very seriously."

For a moment, the only sounds heard were the meeting of hooves against earth and stone.

"He was building a house for your family to live in," the princess blurted out, feeling far too uncomfortable in the silence surrounding them. "He had worked so hard-a knight of the royal guard gets so little of their own time, but he would spend his carving out a space for you."

A puzzled look caught Link's face as Zelda continued the story.

"He was building it right outside of town, right near the western wall. I was very young then, but I remember I could see the house grow taller from my window. Your father was the knight who was responsible for escorting me to the temple to pray. He was so excited, planning for everything."

"He talked to you about me?"

"Of course," the princess responded, "You and your mother were nearly all he spoke of. 'It's dangerous for the soul to go through life alone, princess." He was excited about teaching you to use a sword, and for your mother to finally have a large enough space to make home for you. When your mother died, for a long time, it was like he became a different man."

"What do you mean?"

"When word got to him of her passing...I looked out my window and saw the flames. The fire towered over the walls of Castle Town, his body caught in the umbra of his own making. He stood there for three days, not eating, not sleeping, not moving, just staring at the ashes of the house his family could never live in. Something changed in him that night. He was never quite the same."

As they reached Inogo Bridge, the horses slowed down to a slow trot. An opalescent sheen cast over them as the sun started to dip below the mountains. Zelda swung her leg over her horse and hopped down, tying her mare to the luminous bridge. She fumbled in her horse's saddle bag before pausing.

Link shrugged his sword off his shoulder, and carefully set it on the ground. He watched the princess as she removed her pack from her mare. He smiled to himself.

"I'll take care of the fire tonight, princess," Link said with a smile. He then left to gather some wood as well as his thoughts.

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Thanks for reading! Please review!


	5. A Sad Shadow

_The road rattled beneath the rickety wagon wheels. A old workhorse let out a lazy, tired whinny. Link let out a low moan and rubbed his eyes. He could smell the smoke from so many chimneys float in, and he knew he had to be at Castletown as the cart came to a slow halt. His body was shivering, despite the midsummer warmth. Link slowly and reluctantly stretched out of the merchant's cart and looked up at the tall gate that loomed above him._

 _The scene laid before him seemed as if it was framed almost expertly, like many of the oil paintings he had seen on display at the inn. He had thought this moment would be branded in his memory for his entire life._

 _The sky was washed in an ombre of periwinkle and magenta; the horizon was split from view by a monstrous wall of cobbled gray limestone that stretched as far as he could see in either direction. The rock monstrosity loomed above him, nearly 30 feet high, held together by speckled stones that reminded him of the fowl eggs Purah and he had found once, nestled against a rock ledge. So confidently hidden, yet so fragile. Link had begged her to leave them in their nest, but Purah refused, and dropped one. Even then, he could recall its dark orange yolk splattered against the rocks, soaking into the blades of grass below. He cried when it happened._

 _He was crying now. He was ashamed, even as the tears streamed down his face._

 _The sky and the walls and the earth beneath him blurred together as he tried to place one foot in front of the other. The storm raging inside his tiny chest echoed a feeling he had experienced so many years ago, with the tiny bird eggs, yet it had been magnified by a experience, it had grown through his understanding. Loss._

 _A loss of what had mattered most to him._

 _Linked wiped his face roughly on his sleeve, and he could feel the sticky wetness smear across his eyes and cheeks. He felt small and helpless, a tiny blonde speck against the immense grayness of the Hylian walls. He could make out a silhouette of a man in the gate-the familiar outline of a man clad an ornate green tunic, with a blue Hylian shield on his back. The man stood like a pillar, unmoving._

 _Link stumbled forward, heart heavy and apprehensive. His steps started off slow, as he clumsily bobbed forward. As if beyond his own control, his stride became faster, and he picked up speed. His legs moved independently of his own body and the young boy's face feel quickly into his father's green tunic. Link's hands grabbed the soft green fabric, clinging to the fibers as if he feared he might slip away. He could feel a hand grasp tightly at his shoulder. Arn said nothing, but led the boy towards the castle in silence._

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 _He had been allowed to live in the castle with his father. Allowed, he remembered, was the word the knights of the castle had used. Arn's primary responsibility in the royal guard had been to keep the princess safe, and so he had already been given a small knight's quarters, located near the young Zelda. Building a small oak bed and squeezing it into the already cramped quarters inconvenience no one other than the father and son, and so Link's presence in the castle was tolerated. He found himself becoming his father's shadow, following him around his rounds, trying to learn what he could._

 _When he was left to his own devices, to keep himself occupied, he played a game where he tried to stay a unseen, silently wandering the cold stone halls, trying to see how long he silently move about before being noticed._

 _And so he began his new life._

 _While his father was serving as royal guard, he would try to find a way to help however he could; he was determined to be more than tolerated. Link would find a way to be valued. Sometimes he would help in the kitchens. He had become so good at not being noticed, that he would scale the castle wall, swim the moat, to collect mushrooms and whatever else he could find. If he was lucky, in the tall grasses surrounding the castle, he would find a fairy he could trade to one of the castle guards for lessons in swordplay. Even though they only let him use sticks to practice, he felt somehow complete, as if he was the most himself when he was in that dusty sparring ring._

 _Link's favorite part of the day was getting to see his father, usually after dinner, or at breakfast, depending on what rounds he was assigned. They would eat whatever Link had brought up from the kitchens either at Arn's desk, or sitting on their straw-stuffed mattresses. There was always a new book on his desk. Usually in old glyphs that the young Hylian didn't understand._

 _Link would talk to his father about what he had seen. What he had learned, what he had overheard when he was being a shadow on the wall. Arn would smile and laugh, and go back to reading whatever old book or tome he had on his small wooden desk._

 _For a time, the young boy noticed his father had stopped reading. His books vanished from the rough-hewn desk._

" _I think," Arn said when Link asked, "King Rhoam has taken notice of my venture into academia." He chuckled nervously, "I think it may be in my best interest to stay quiet, and go unnoticed for a while. Besides," Arn smiled, "a break from reading gives me the opportunity to teach you how to handle a sword in a way that WON'T get you killed."_

 _Link blushed_

" _You can't think I hadn't known you had been practicing? Son, at the very least don't ask a fool like Tarin to teach you defense. For goddess' sake, the man holds his shield upside-down half the time. All he's going to be able to teach you is how to get stabbed in the gut by a halberd, and then you'll wish you still had your fairy to save you." Arn stuffed a bite of glazed meat into his mouth, and chewed it roughly. "I imagine we should start at once."_

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Thank you for reading! I hope the back-and-forth format isn't too confusing. Please review!


	6. A Bath

Link woke up with a gasp, each breath ragged and and dry. His knuckles were staunch and white, his hands wrapped tightly like vines around the hilt of his sword. He threw the wool blanket up to his face, frantic to muffle the sounds of his nervous breath. "Don't wake the princess," his mind screamed, "Don't wake the princess…"

His entire journey had not been an easy one for him to traverse. When he had first awoken in the Shrine of Resurrection, he had been desperate for any clue to who he was, where he was…anything that had linked him to his identity. His understanding of himself and the world had been built predominantly on second hand sources. People who had known him before, strangers who had heard of him in legend; tall tales and myths passed down from a generation who had forced themselves to forget the horrors they had lived through. In whole, he had had maybe two score of actual things he remembered about himself from his life before the big sleep. He remembered praying to the goddess that he remember more. Something, anything to connect him back to this world.

He had been wrong.

It had been unsettling to remember so much. Ever since Gannon was defeated, the memories swept over him in waves. In his dreams. In his waking hours, usually at the most inconvenient times. With every memory cam a barrage of questions from the princess. "What did you remember? Who did you remember?" Every memory seemed to disappoint her. Yet he did not know why.

He looked over across the smouldering embers of the dying fire and saw the princess, still asleep. He slowly pulled back the blankets and folded them on his bed roll. He looked around, sweeping the perimeter. She should be safe for a moment, and in any case, he wouldn't wander so far that he couldn't hear her should she need him.

He quietly rifled through his saddle bag, looking for a clean tunic, and a small vial. He glanced over his shoulder quickly to reassure himself that the princess was still asleep. The gentle rise and fall of her shoulders beneath the soft blue blanket reassured him, before he carefully made his way from the trail.

Link followed the river a hundred meters up stream before he found a small embankment of rocks that would provide him with the privacy he needed. After checking to make sure he was alone, he stripped down to his small clothes, and hung his trousers and tunic from a dry tree nearby, and waded out into the water.

 _Gods, this water is cold,_ he thought to himself, before plunging in chest deep. He could feel the light current sweep around him, as he anchored himself to the smooth bed stones at the river's floor. He poured out some liquid from the vial, and formed a rich lather in his hands. It felt good to get the grime off of him. Traveling with the princess left him with little time to afford himself with these common pleasures, and as such, Link had become glazed with road dust, pine resin, and goddess knows what else. _How can she stand to travel with me,_ he thought as he scrubbed what he decided to pretend wasn't moblin blood out of his hair. _I seem like more of a monster than Kilton._

He plunged himself head-under to cleanse the rest of the froth and bubbles from his head, and he could hear the water whip around him…

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 _He emerged from the large tub of water gasping, and frustrated._

" _I don't understand what bathing has to do with being a knight," Link said angrily, wiping the soap from his eyes._

" _Bathing," Arn said with a sigh, trying to hide the frustration he was feeling, "has everything to do with being a knight. It has to do with putting other's needs before yourself. For example," Arn poured more of the purple elixir onto his son's head, "right now I NEED you to not smell like a Bobokin's loincloth."_

 _Link's face was a illustration of displeasure as he melodramatically lathered the soap into his hair. He wanted to make it abundantly clear that while he knew his father could make him take a bath, Arn couldn't make him like it._

" _I'm only going to get dirty again," Link said, quickly silenced by the pitcher of water being poured on his head._

" _That might be true," Arn said, "But it's just one of those things. I don't make the rules, son. The royal family doesn't expect much from their protectors, but the expect them to be clean, quiet, respectful, and then...well, hmm…" Arn pretended to think for a minute, "After all those things, I guess they'd probably want them to be kind of good with a sword or something. But honesty, son, that part is probably secondary."_

 _Link continued to grumble. He had no desire to leave the castle. His father had gone on missions without him before, he didn't see why this would be any different. He didn't like the idea of the duo having to travel with anyone, much less the princess._

 _The next morning, Link woke at dawn and put on his tunic, and slipped down the stone stairs to the stable. His father stood there in his green tunic and traveling cloak, testing the sturdy buckles of his saddle bags on the black horse. Link tiredly munched on a piece of stale bread, and scratched at his ribs, trying to chase away the deep feeling of drowsiness._

" _I thank you, Sir Arn, for your accompaniment to Necluda," a small, clear voice rang out behind them._

 _He had seen the princess before, when he had wandered the castle. She spent a good deal of time in the castle library, and Link often saw her with some of the same books as his father, books written in Old Hylian, High Hylian, and other kinds of Hylian Link didn't understand. He had seen the princess in Castle Town, escorted by the castle guards, speaking to the townsfolk. He had seen her many times, and she had always seemed so far away, so out of reach, untouchable. Yet here she was. Standing in front of him. He was dumbfounded_

" _Link, help the princess onto Demon,"_

 _Link silently knelt, before lifting the princess up onto the dark steed. Zelda's eyes changed from a calm green to wide and frantic, as she clung to Demon's neck. Her arms flailed as the stallion jerked left and right. The young boy looked at the scene, confused._

" _You don't know how to ride, do you?" The words slipped out of the boy's mouth before he could stop himself. Arn gritted his teeth nervously, as his son, who was usually so quiet, kept talking to royalty as if he were talking to Henya in the castle kitchen. Rather than intervene, the old knight instead chose to watch the scene play out apprehensively._

 _The princess was not pleased._

 _But she was more frightened of the beast beneath her than she was of the impropriety or the the boy in green standing before her, holding the reins of the monstrosity of black sinew in one hand, while gently soothing the animal with the other. Link calmed the animal, and in doing so, calmed the princess. Link carefully led the horse out the gate of the castle, when they reached a small grove of trees. Once they were away from prying eyes, Link turned looked up at the princess._

 _Blue eyes met with green, and Link awkwardly stumbled for words._

" _I'm fine," The princess said, sounding determined before the horse gave a sharp buck. Zelda let out a shrill scream, and grabbed the saddle quickly in an attempt to stay mounted. "I'm not fine, I'm not fine, I'M NOT FINE!"_

 _Instinctively, Link leapt on the the saddle and grabbed the reigns and soothed the horse into a slow trot. He felt a rush of adrenaline as he became suddenly aware of everything around him at once: The horse, tense and annoyed not only by its inexperienced rider, but the fact that he now would have to carry an extra body on this journey. The princess still quivered against his arms with a nervous fear, masked by the tenseness of her body. His Father's dumbfounded look of shock, that appeared to be mixed with the slightest amount of fear. Link saw Arn's face immediately shoot to the castle wall, checking for gossiping eyes._

" _I'm sorry," Link said in a low voice, "I didn't mean to overstep. You were afraid, and it was spooking Demon," Link explained. "I was worried he would throw you off. I'm not wise enough to know duties you have as a princess, but I imagine they'd be much harder with a broken leg, your highness. If you want," he apologized, already afraid of what wrath his actions might bring, "I can get down-give you the reins and go back-"_

" _-No, no," The princess gasped, in an attempt to sound calm and collected, "I insist. We have too far a ride ahead of us, and I'm as likely to steer this creature effectively as you are to teach a Moblin to read."_

 _The three rode in a hushed silence along the east road of Hyrule Field. Link felt the her golden hair brush gently against his face. He could feel the soft satin of her blue gown. He could feel the heavy weight of shame gather in his princess's chest._

" _No one's good at riding when they first start," Link said, still apologizing. "And you started with Demon! That's quite the challenge, since he's a bit of an ass-" Link froze. "I didn't mean to say ass," he stumbled, "One should never say things like ass in front of royalty, and I just…"_

" _Link, in goddess's name, shut up!" Arn yelled, as he led the horses to get a drink in the river, "You're the one making an ass of yourself."_

 _The boy blushed, and quickly became silent. The princess laughed so hard she jarred Link off the saddle, and he fell into the water with a splash._

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Link ripped through the surface of the water with a gasp. Another memory. That was unexpected. He dragged his fingers through the hair that hung wet in his face, scraping the water from his eyes, and trudged out of the water, being careful to avoid the patches of wet earth. He let out a gentle sigh. Despite the exhaustion of dealing with flashbacks, he could at least finally relax for the first time since he awoke from his 100 year sleep. When he was dry enough, he stepped into his trousers, and carefully pulled up and buckled the soft tanned leather of his boots.

It was then, in his moment of peace, that he heard a scream from the princess.

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Thank you for reading! I appreciate your patience and feedback! If you enjoy, review. If you don't enjoy, review anyways!


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